The Second Princess [indefinite hiatus.]

The Second Chance | 2

I don't own Fire Emblem.

...

Anderan looked defeated for once, as if even he couldn't fight back with words against the beautiful sorceress in front of him.

Finally, he inhaled sharply before huffing.

"One toe out of line, Miss Diana, one mishap, and you'll be out of this manor quicker than you can comprehend."

...

One year later

...

Gods, Margaret just wanted sleep. Was that so hard to ask for?

For three days straight, she had been busy doing her duties as an heiress, going to lessons and adequate performances non-stop. Usually, she would have had more leisure time to do what she wanted, but every time she sat down to relax, a maid would ring up another task to her. A normal person would have been suspicious, but she already knew what was going on.

Anderan hadn't been happy with her most of his life, but he was really pulling strings here. Since she had started to defy him more and more, Anderan only started to hold a heavier grudge and seemed to make a mission on making her as tired as possible.

So far, it was working.

And she hated it.

Not the work of course. As tired as she was, by now she was used to it. Sure, there was a tad bit of annoyance mixed in there somewhere, but there wasn't any anger. It was her father's pleasure in seeing her exhausted that made her mad – as if she was back to stage one in being under his little finger again. And that just made her furious to the very end.

But at the moment, Margaret was too exhausted to comprehend anything else. After cleaning up and dressing in her nightgown, she immediately collapsed in bed, falling fast asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow.

It barely felt like the night even passed when she opened her eyes again. Margaret couldn't possibly care whether it was morning or not – she was still dead tired and she wanted more sleep. Screw whatever was going on in the world – she was going to kill someone if they didn't allow her to rest.

For a moment, she was in utter bliss, slipping back into the paradise of dreamland-

Then a scorching light flooded through her eyelids, and she snapped her eyes open, immediately covering her eyes with her hand.

"What the hell?!" She murmured, ready to pounce on whoever had woken her up again. When her vision finally cleared, she saw a giggling Diana near her bedroom window, an amused glint in her eye.

"Good morning, my lady," she laughed. "Although I'd love for you to sleep in, Lord Anderan requires you in the breakfast hall in an hour, so we must hurry up."

Margaret grumbled as she struggled to sit up on her bed. "Must you wake me up so abruptly, Diana?"

The girl giggled again. "As your lady in waiting and bodyguard, I have to take extra measures, my lady."

Margaret seemed to cringe at the title. "Diana, we're friends. I told you – when we're alone or out of my father's eyes, at least call me by my name. You're, after all, a princess – I should be bowing to you."

"While I am honored," Diana sighed as she helped Margaret slip out of bed, the heiress rubbing her eyes, "I am currently not a princess right now. I should at least call you by a title."

She huffed in response. "It makes me uncomfortable."

Diana laughed. "Hey, two years ago you would have loved it."